05/15/2026
Happy Thursday DDS Family!❤️
I’m going to be transparent because that’s how I’ve always led DDS. 🖤 Rescue is not glamorous and this week has been one of the hardest we’ve ever faced. I’m not posting this for pity or sympathy. I’m posting it because these dogs need people and I refuse to pretend this work is easy when it isn’t.
Mission RISE is REAL rescue. It’s exhausting, emotional, messy, loud, chaotic, heartbreaking, rewarding, and nonstop all at the same time. 😭🐾
Right now I still have 38 adult Danes, 1 Doodle, 4 scorpions, 1 tarantula and a partridge in a pear tree 😂☠️ at the shelter begging for attention, comfort, cleaning, walks, reassurance, and love. When only 1 or 2 volunteers show up at a location and someone leaves because cleaning s**t “isn’t really their thing,” it makes things incredibly hard on the small number of people carrying the load. These dogs do not care if the work is glamorous. They just need us.
The puppies all received their exams and vaccines yesterday and are slowly starting to move into foster homes. 🩺🐶 The adults are also being worked into the schedule for exams so they can start moving too. We ARE actively working on this and making progress, but this is not an overnight process. These dogs have to be medically evaluated, monitored, documented, cleaned up, and safely placed.
And to be fully transparent… the adults may take even longer than expected because when I walked into the property on Monday, several females were actively being bred. 💔 That means we potentially have pregnant moms within this group. We now need to ultrasound every intact female and make difficult decisions and plans for next steps if pregnancies are confirmed. This case just continues to unfold layer by layer.
My house has officially become complete chaos. 😅 I’ve moved the Beans into my living room. I’ve moved one of the mommas and her nursing babies into my son’s room… which now desperately needs a carpet shampooer after this week. 🫠 Every room in my house and every inch of my life is currently rescue right now.
My DDS team members who came in from out of state have to head home today and if I’m being truthful, that part scares me a little. 💔 They’ve been helping hold this operation together while I’ve tried to keep moving through complete exhaustion.
And before anyone says I took on too much… please don’t. I was not going to say no to those babies. I still never will. 🖤
I also have SO much laundry that my washer physically cannot keep up anymore. 🧺 We are throwing away most bedding to try to stay ahead of contamination and sanitation, but we cannot throw away puppy pads and actual dog beds nonstop. If anyone can help by taking loads to a laundromat, washing/drying items, or helping manage laundry rotation, I would be beyond grateful. 🙏
Also… many larger employers offer paid volunteer hours for nonprofit organizations. DDS is a registered nonprofit and we can absolutely provide documentation/sign offs for volunteer hours if your employer offers those programs. 🐶📋
🚨 PLEASE READ BEFORE SIGNING UP 🚨
❌ No kids right now
🧤 You MUST wear PPE
🧼 You need to be comfortable getting dirty
💩 Puppies WILL step in p**p and track it onto you 😅
🐕 There are several large dogs that are shut down, fearful, or reactive due to trauma
⚠️ While specific dogs are marked DDS Team Handling Only, sometimes trauma resurfaces unexpectedly and dogs may panic, freeze, or redirect
🖤 Volunteers need to be comfortable around giant breed dogs and willing to listen to directions immediately
These babies have been through absolute hell. If you want to be part of one of the largest and most emotionally difficult Great Dane rescue operations many of us in rescue have ever seen, please come prepared to do ALL parts of rescue… cleaning, scrubbing kennels, laundry, organizing supplies, walking dogs, comforting scared animals, handling chaos, and helping wherever needed. 🖤
And for those who cannot physically do the harder tasks… trust me, we still have jobs for you 😂 You can absolutely come help supervise our famous puppy “Cuddle Timeout” for naughty puppies who need extra snuggles.
The point is… we need help. I love every single one of you and I hate asking for it because I’m stubborn as hell, but I genuinely need my village right now. 🤍 I’m wearing my body down trying to keep up with all of this and I’ve cried more this week than I even want to admit. So this is me putting my hard headed self in check and asking for help. Please come show up for these dogs with us.
📝 Volunteer Signup:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4FAAAE2CA1FBC43-64032983-mission
🖤 Donate $ and 📦 Amazon Wishlist:
https://daisysdanesanctuary.com/donate/
Daisy's Dane Sanctuary
